winds hammered us last night.

0patience

High wind article
Gonna have to do some repairs to my front porch and this time it wasn't from you guys.

LiquidChaos66

We are missing a significant portion of our patio roof after last night. Not in our neighbors yard or our yard... lol Must be in Oz.

RBeckom

Hit us here pretty hard too, though not as severe as to both of you, but it did blow over one of my wind turbines I was testing without a furling tail.

LiquidChaos66

on the plus side... our kitchen is much brighter now....... LMAO

LiquidChaos66

RBeckom:

Hit us here pretty hard too, though not as severe as to both of you, but it did blow over one of my wind turbines I was testing without a furling tail.

Turbines? Do elaborate!

RBeckom

LiquidChaos66:

RBeckom:

Hit us here pretty hard too, though not as severe as to both of you, but it did blow over one of my wind turbines I was testing without a furling tail.

Turbines? Do elaborate!

Just personal experimentation out of boredom, though I have managed to construct several working prototype's capable of blowing halogen bulbs in the hundred watt range DC. By the was congratulations on your optimism on the light situation, might as well see the good as we can not change the bad anyway!
:-)

LiquidChaos66

Natural sources of electricity are awesome! I was looking into solar panels and do it yourself wind turbines for a while. Then realized there are too many dang permits to do that stuff! Lol

0patience

LiquidChaos66:

Natural sources of electricity are awesome! I was looking into solar panels and do it yourself wind turbines for a while. Then realized there are too many dang permits to do that stuff! Lol

This is something that irritates me.
Environmentalists push for using natural resources for power, yet the govt makes it next to impossible for the average citizen to implement.
I wanted to install solar panels, with twelve 8D batteries, using a 5KW inverter for back up power.
5KW would supply most the power in the house, with possibly the stove and dryer being the exception.
The batteries would supply up to 10 hours of power, depending on what in the house was used.
More, if we're only running a few lights, TV and fridge.

Because the solar panels would have to be mounted on the roof, the permits required are expensive.
Almost more than the cost of the solar panels, which are becoming rather economical anymore.
Cost of the batteries, solar panels and inverter would be around $1500.
Permits for installing on the roof and electrical permits $1500.
But yet, commercial applications get breaks on the permits and tax breaks.
I get that and understand that, but wouldn't you think they would make it easier for the homeowners to install this stuff.

RBeckom

Here in Georgia not only do you not have to buy permits, you can construct any wind or solar farm on your own property freely and the best thing is that if you production exceeds your demand, you actually sell it back to the local power companies. They have no say in the matter, they have to pay you for what is provided.

blutattoo

Here our local utility company gives us a huge tax credit for installing solar on a residential property. Permit costs are county specific, but generally 1-2% of the cost of construction. You'd think Oregon would be more progressive on the issue.

perkinke

blutattoo:

Here our local utility company gives us a huge tax credit for installing solar on a residential property. Permit costs are county specific, but generally 1-2% of the cost of construction. You'd think Oregon would be more progressive on the issue.

Well, there are two things in Oregon that affect this issue. One is the way we have our utility regs and governance set up, frankly it sucks. I have a friend who is hardcore environmental/alternative energy and has solar panels on his house and his rental next door. It generates enough that he used to have enough credit built up during the summer from energy generation that his electrical bill was covered all year. Several years ago the utility companies pushed a change through the Public Utilities Commission that allows them to charge a fee independent of the energy use so now he has to pay them something every month despite the fact that he generates more than he uses.

The second is simply the personality of our residents, and this is worse in Portland, Corvallis and Eugene than the rest of the state. People are in favor of solar panels and wind turbines as long as they are in someone ESLE's neighborhood. Just like they clamor for the idea of "compact" development until a row of townhouses goes in in their neighborhood

The fees do vary from city to city and county to county, i expect they are considerably higher in the Portland metro area than elsewhere.

blutattoo

That blows. Heck they should be paying the homeowner for not taking from the grid, not the other way around. Well at least you don't have to pay 10% sales tax on stuff you buy.

0patience

blutattoo:

That blows. Heck they should be paying the homeowner for not taking from the grid, not the other way around. Well at least you don't have to pay 10% sales tax on stuff you buy.

Naw, they don't get us on what we buy, they tax what we gross right off the bat in a state income tax.
That way, they get to take their tax money on EVERYTHING we purchase without having to tax us at the cash register.

Most states pay a sales tax on certain things, with some things being excempt, correct?
Income tax gets them 9% on your gross wages, which equates to quite a bit more in the long run.

So folks in states with sales tax pay 10% on their purchases. Which wouldn't be more than their NET income, while folks in states with income taxes, like Oregon pay 9% on their gross income.
See the catch?

webmost

Anyone see the irony in 93 mph winds hitting Pacific county?

macs-smokes

Let's not talk about taxes.. with income (state and federal) sales tax and property taxes this state sucks!

0patience

webmost:

Anyone see the irony in 93 mph winds hitting Pacific county?

You lost me. Elaborate.